Safety of money in debit account?

Is it safe to keep a large amount of money in a debit style account (the type of account you have a card and can make payments with it). If my money was to be taken from the account would I be reimbursed by my bank? Thanks!

Use a credit card to make purchases and keep your bank account separate. If your bank account is never linked to a "card" it would take a very savvy scammer to get your money. With a debit card, any jokers with a skimmer could rip you off...

Money coming OUT of an account may or may not be safe depending on how its taken out

The only people allowed to take money out are the account holders (or the bank if they apply charges to it)
YOU can do that either directly using an ATM or by online back transfer, or indirectly by cheque

If YOU are careless (e.g giving your card to somebody else to get money out of an ATM for you ) then its very likely you will not be reimbursed if they take out more than they are supposed to (cos YOU gave them the card)
OR if you lose the card (or it gets stolen) then you have a responsibility to tell them IMMEDIATELY - cos its very unlikely you will get reimbursed for any charges before they are notified (you cannot lose by telling them - they will cancel the card within seconds of you telling them and you will get a new one within days, but you can still go into the bank to get money if you take some ID)

There are 2 levels of security for accounts with banks or credit unions (including online financial institutions that don't have brick & mortar locations like traditional banks)>

First, there's the bank's fraud protection policy. You have to contact the bank or credit union to see the specifics of their policy, and you can research online to find reviews from people who have had fraudulent charges on their accounts. Most legitimate banks offer 100% protection and will have your money back in your account within 24 hours of filing a claim for fraud.

The second layer is the Federal insurance programs - FDIC for banks, and NCIU for credit unions. This insurance covers your accounts in the event that the bank itself collapses and goes bankrupt and is unable to pay people who have money deposited. These programs cover 100% of your money up to $250,000 per customer per banking institution. If you have more than $250k you might want to spread it around to different banks with no more than $250k at any one bank - if you're concerned about this.

First, there is no such thing as a debit account - there are checking accounts, savings accounts, and some other specialty types of accounts that have debit cards attached to them. The safety of your money is tied to the type of account you open, not whether it has a debit card. As for the safety of your money, the answer is - it depends. At most banks or credit unions, your money is insured up to #250,000 against the bank/credit union going bankrupt. After that, it gets tricky. For example, if someone fraudulently obtains your debit card and uses it, then you are protected (technically, the first $50 is not protected, but most banks or credit unions will ignore that and just write it off). However, if you give someone your card to purchase, say, a tank of gas and while they are getting that tank of gas, they go into a store and buy $500 worth of stuff, you are screwed since you gave them the card (tacit authorization that they could use the card even though you thought they were just buying gas). Likewise, if you sign yup for a 30 day free trial using your debit card and forget to cancel before teh 30 days, you are liable for the non-trial membership fee.